Sunday, 5 August 2012

Arctic Ale 1851 - 1951

Even more stuff about Arctic Ale. Again, courtesy of Chris Bowen. It's turning into quite the Allsopp's week.

This article is taken from "The Red Hand", the in-house magazine of Ind Coope and Allsopp. It seems to have been published to coincide with a relaunch of Arctic Ale on the domestic market.

"Arctic Ale 1851 - 1951

In search of the North-west Passage

Cabot, Willoughby, Chancellor, Frobisher, Hudson, Franklin these names
ring out whenever the story of the exploration of the bleak arctic
wastes is told. Many of these daring men gave their lives in the pursuit
of the fabled North-west Passage which, by traversing the polar coast
of the North American continent, was to provide an infinitely shorter
route to the Far East than the long voyage round the Cape. In 1845,
Franklin set out on the last voyage of his colourful career. He
eventually found the North-west Passage—though it cost him his life and
never realised the hopes of the early navigators. Even his discovery was
unknown for fourteen years, as he and his companions vanished into the
unknown Arctic. Rescue expeditions were fitted out in an attempt to
ascertain the fate of the unfortunate explorers. These met with no
success and in 1852 a Government expedition under Admiral Edward Belcher
was sent to make a more determined effort.

Arctic Ale—the first brewing

It was in the course of fitting out this last expedition that Arctic Ale
made its first appearance. The Government requested Allsopps to produce
a beer suitable for the rigours of the Arctic climate. This was done
towards the end of 1851, and the beer was a great success. Admiral
Belcher reported to the Admiralty that it was "the best drink for Arctic
regions. It has indeed been a great blessing to us particularly for
our sick. It kept exceedingly well and was sought after by all."

He also reported that Arctic Ale was in no way impaired by freezing.
Re-bottling found it as good as ever. Sir Leopold McLintock's expedition
of 1857, which finally discovered the fate of Franklin; was also
supplied with this fine strong ale.

Subsequent Arctic expeditions found the warming strength of the ale a
great help to the brave men who fought the bitter cold of the frozen
latitudes. In 1875, Sir George Nares, who had been with Admiral Belcher
in the previous expedition, asked for a similar beer to be provided.
Again Arctic Ale was found a highly successful brew.

"One of the strongest ales ever brewed"

in 1895, Sir Albert Markham, whose name is famous in the field of Arctic
exploration and who had accompanied Sir George Nares twenty years
earlier, gave an interview to an enterprising journalist. The latter,
impressed by what he had heard of the beer, investigated the matter
further and reported in these terms :—

"This is one of the strongest ales ever
brewed by the Company. The consistency of the wort was such that it
could not run from the copper through the tap in the ordinary way, but
had to be lifted out in buckets. It is, perhaps, hardly necessary to
remind the public the sustaining qualities of a beer such as this are
far greater than those of wines and spirits. Its colour is a rich brown
and its flavour is suggestive of Old Madeira. It is as sound today as on
the day of its birth 20 years ago"

Adventure Story of 1951 . . .

Since these early days, Arctic Ale has proved its worth over and over
again. The latest page in its adventurous history has been written this
Festival year, when Stanley Smith and his companion set sail from the
Thames in the 20-feet sloop Nova Espero to cross the Atlantic for the
second time in his smallest-ever transatlantic craft. With them went a
consignment of Arctic Ale, 'stowed away' to help sustain them on their
arduous journey.

A popular winter drink . .

Not only the adventurous appreciate Arctic Ale. More and more people are
finding it the perfect winter's drink and enjoy its encouraging
strength, its smooth, mellow flavour in comfort by the fire or in the
snug corner of the saloon bar. This increasing popularity points to a
wide demand for an ale of very high quality and strength which can be
drunk in place of short drinks.

To celebrate the centenary of Arctic Ale. the Company will be bringing
its name to an even wider public with full-page colour advertisements in
the more popular national weekly magazines.
The Red Hand, 1951, pages 16 - 19.

I wonder if they really had to get the wort out of the copper with
buckets. It sounds rather unlikely. OK, the gravity is North of 1100º,
but there were plenty of William Younger beers regularly brewed with similar gravities. They didn't seem to have any problem getting wort out of the copper.

Dark brown and tasting like Madeira? Sounds very like the 1875 Arctic Ale I drank.

I did once have to scoop wort out of the copper, fortunately it was only homebrew scale. It was a strong beer with a ridiculous amount of hops and post boil it was almost gelatinous. The fermentation sorted it out though and it re-liquefied.